KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) which busted an Islamic State (IS) module in New Delhi is probing the involvement of more Keralites, including two women, in the group. According to sources, NIA has interrogated three persons including the women as part of the probe. The case pertains to an IS module formed by a Malayali named Mohammed Ameen, alias Abu Yahya. The group had identified certain individuals in Kerala and Karnataka for targeted killings. They had also planned to undertake ‘hijrat’ (religious migration) to Kashmir for engaging in terrorist acts.
Ameen had travelled to Kashmir after returning from Bahrain in March 2020 and had been camping in Delhi for the last two months for establishing contacts with the terrorist gangs having links with IS in Kashmir.
“There will be more arrests in the coming days from Kerala. We have identified several people who are suspected members of the group. They include some woman members. Some of them have been questioned and investigation is on against their role in the group. We have also identified some members who are currently abroad,” a source said.
“They are radicalising more persons on the lines of the IS ideology. We have been monitoring the group for the past few months,” the source said.
Meanwhile, NIA on Tuesday produced two Malayalis, who were arrested from Kollam and Kannur, at the NIA Court in Kochi. The arrested are Mushab Anvar, 19, of Tana in Kannur and Rahees Rasheed, 33, of Memana in Oachira, Kollam. Rahees is a dental doctor working in Bengaluru while Mushab is a student.
The NIA Court issued a transit warrant to produce the duo at the Patiala House Court in New Delhi within five days. The NIA would take them on a flight from Kochi on Wednesday. The agency carried out raids on eight locations in Kerala, including Kollam, Kannur, Malappuram and Kasaragod. Uma Behra, NIA SP, and her team from New Delhi are stationed in Kerala as part of the investigation.